Alberto Del Rio Open To Fight CM Punk In UFC
Former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio did an interview with Wrestlinginc that was done in-part as promotion for his new commentary gig for the new MMA program Combate Americas. That show can be seen starting Thursday nights on NBC Universo, but what’s really interesting is his discussion of CM Punk’s endeavors into UFC.
Punk is a great athlete, he’s been training to do this for a while. Even before he left WWE, he was already doing jiu jitsu and Thai boxing. He was just doing it to be in shape, back then he didn’t know that he was going to be in the UFC one day. Now he’s taking his time and he’s getting ready. He’s smart. I’m sure the promoters would like to put him in the cage already because they know he’s going to sell PPVs. Phil is a really smart person. He’s going to be for sure. There are people saying that he’s not going to fight, and it was just a promotion to get people to watch UFC, but it’s not. He’s fighting for sure. I can’t tell you the specific date, because I know he’s getting ready and he wants to do well. He wants to have a career in MMA
Del Rio also stated that he was open to the idea of returning to MMA and squaring off against Punk in the octagon, but only if the price was right.
I’ll do it, but they [UFC] need to offer the right money. The offers I received from all of the organizations are so ridiculous that I didn’t even think about it. It’s really good money for the fighters, because I know what fighters do every time they fight, but I do so well in pro wrestling, why would I do something like that if I’m making the same money for pro wrestling appearances?
First of all I want to congratulate Del Rio on his new color commentary position; he always had a knack for being entertaining on the microphone in WWE so I have no doubts he’ll bring intensity and enthusiasm to the fights he calls.
As for him potentially fighting Punk, it would be interesting but honestly only from the perspective of a wrestling fan. Realistically speaking, this probably isn’t the big moneymaker that Del Rio feels it is, so he probably shouldn’t expect Dana White blowing up his phone for the opportunity any time soon.
His reasoning makes sense though; why not cash the same paycheck for a less dangerous job (although still not fake) for one that requires much more preparation with the added notion of getting banged up really bad?
Keep in mind, this is just a small taste of the full interview that Wrestlinginc will apparently be releasing in full next week, and we will be bringing you more interesting details once it arrives.